Thermote & Vanhalst TVH families: €1.5 billion Empire in Global Handling
Thermote & Vanhalst
TVHalso known as Thermote & Vanhalst, is recognized for its rapid growth in the field of handling at West Flanders. Founded in 1969 by Paul Thermote and Paul Vanhalst, the company initially specialized in buying, repairing and selling old military forklifts. Today, it occupies a predominant position in the global forklift market. The heritage of The Thermote family is valued at over €1,500,000,000 and the de Vanhalst family at over €2,200,000,000.
In its early years, TVH concentrated on the Belgian and German markets for the purchase of used forklift trucks. However, faced with a shortage of such equipment in Europe, TVH turned to the JapanThis was the start of a major expansion phase. Today, the company maintains a stock of some 2,100 used forklift trucks, and sells over 5,000 new and used units each year.
The repair of forklift trucks of all makes generated a substantial need for spare parts and accessories, and became the group's core business. This branch grew considerably in the 1990s, thanks to the expertise accumulated over the years. Today, TVH serves on a daily basis 20,000 active customers in over 162 countries, drawing on an inventory of 450,000 spare parts from a database of over 16 million references.
The company was run by second generation of founding families who each held half of the shares. In 2016, TVH's attempt to acquire British competitor Lavendon failed, with the company passing into the hands of Loxama French group. However, TVH succeeded in acquiring Lavendon's German subsidiary.
This process also revealed differences of vision between the two owner families, leading to a reorganization in which TVH was integrated into Quertus, a Luxembourg-based group. Following the separation, the Thermote sisters obtained 60 % of TVH shares, and the remaining shares were sold to the D'Ieteren family for 1.1 billion euros. This transaction left each party with a net value of around 1.5 billion euros. These families are among the top 20 Belgians of Belgium.
| Entity | Details |
|---|---|
| Founders | Paul Thermote and Paul Vanhalst |
| Head office | Waregem, Belgium |
| Sector | Forklifts and spare parts |
| Range | Worldwide |
| Customers | 20,000 employees in 162 countries |
| Products | 2100 used forklift trucks in stock, over 16 million part numbers and accessories |
| History | Expansion from the Japanese used heftruck market |
| Growth | Significant influence of repair expertise and spare parts distribution |
| Division | Reorganization under Luxembourg's Quertus Group |
| Valuation | Founding families retain significant net worth after reorganization |
